10+ Things About The Earth You Probably Not Have Known Before

Earth is, no doubt, a well-designed and intricate planet. For years, scientists have been trying to discover it and unveil its mysteries. And though, it may seem that we have learned everything about the planet we live on but the truth is otherwise.

There are a lot of things about Earth which we have not learned yet. In case you are not convinced, we are presenting you 15 strange things about Earth that you might not have known before.

1. All of you may have heard about Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, but very few people know that there are actually 2 kinds of auroras on Earth. The lesser-known Southern Lights, Aurora Australis, can be best seen in Antarctica but can also be observed to some extent in Australia and New Zealand.

2. The smallest mammal present on Earth is the Kitti’s Hog-nosed bat which weighs only 2 grams and is only 1.1 – 1.3 inches in length! These were first found in the early 1900’s in the caves of Burma and Thailand.

3. You may think that we have discovered all the species present in the world. But the fact is there are still a ton of species that need to be discovered yet.

About 10 million different species are present in the world and, out of these, we have only discovered about 10 to 15 percent of the estimated number. In addition to that, scientists have only discovered 10 percent of the entire area covered by the oceans present on Earth.

4. The oldest religious construction is estimated to be more than 10,000 years of age which makes it even older to the Stonehenge and the pyramids. The place is known as Gobekli Tepe and is located in Turkey.

According to some estimates, Gobekli Tepe is considered to be over 12,000 years old but is undisputedly the oldest temple present in the world.

5. The Dead Sea is the world’s lowest land point which lies nearly 430 meters below the mean sea level. The area is present in the borders of Jordan, Israel, and Palestine.

The Dead Sea is considered to be the perfect place for lounging, sunbathing and relaxing without the fear of aquatic predators since its water is almost 10 times saltier as compared to the normal seawater, thus making it a huge tourist attraction.

6. The atmosphere of the Earth is divided into different layers. The sky you see is just about 62 kilometers above the Earth’s surface and is known as Carmen Line.

In addition to that, there are 4 more layers present in the atmosphere. The exosphere is the last layer and is the highest point one can go without leaving the gravitational pull of the Earth.

7. The oldest fossils found on the Earth are around 3.5 billion years old. But these fossils are of bacteria, not of any plant or animal!

8. The driest place on the Earth is located in Antarctica and is known as McMurdo Dry Valleys. There hasn’t been any rain in this area for the last 2 million years.

9. The oceans are probably one of the most unexplored areas on Earth. The deepest area which has ever been discovered is the Mariana’s Trench.

Mariana’s Trench is located off the coast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean and its lowest point, the Challenger Deep, is more than 10 kilometers deep.

10. Tyrannosaurus Rex might not be as fast as we see in movies. Scientists have estimated that they could run at a speed of 15 to 25 miles per hour. Although the speed is faster than an average man on foot, it is much slower than a car!

11. The largest meteorite which has ever landed on Earth is located in Namibia, Africa. The meteorite is considered to not have broken upon impact, and weighs about 66 tons! It landed about 80,000 years ago.

12. While Mount Everest is regarded as the tallest mountain, if a mountain is measured from base to mountaintop, then the tallest one would be Mauna Kea present in Hawaii.

13. The Earth switches its magnetic poles after every 450,000 years, and the next change is expected to be about 2000 years away!

14. The lowest temperature which has ever been recorded in the world is -89.2 Celsius. It was recorded on July 21, 1983, at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica.

15. Death Valley in California is the hottest place present on the Earth with the temperature reaching as high as 134 degrees Fahrenheit or 56.7 degrees Celsius.